


Legally Blonde: The Clarke Griffin Story

by rochke11



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 16:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7691770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rochke11/pseuds/rochke11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke Griffin has it all. She wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Finn Huntington Collins III. But there is one thing stopping him from proposing: She is too blond. Clarke rallies all of her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back.  But things don't always go as planned, especially when Lexa Woods enters the picture.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Legally Blonde: The Clarke Griffin Story

**Author's Note:**

> So after a four month hiatus, I'm back! As I noted on tumblr, in the first chapter or so Clarke may seen out of character. This was only necessary to make the AU fit. Plus there’s a reason for it in the story that may be partially explained in the opening.
> 
> The story will obviously diverge from the movie after the opening chapter to include Lexa's POV, which is why it may seem like a lot of movie plot is jammed into the first chapter.
> 
> Enjoy!

When she was twelve, Clarke Griffin had aspirations for her life that changed almost daily. One day she wanted to be a doctor, the next day a politician, the day after an artist. She had the IQ and drive to put anyone to shame. Everyone knew she had a great future in front of her.

Nobody knew it more so than her father though. Jake Griffin encouraged his only daughter every day. He urged her to find her passion and stick with it. He told her to, “Never ever give up.”

Clarke learned by example. Her father was her biggest inspiration. But one day, a seemingly ordinary day, he died while working as an engineer with NASA.

Clarke was never the same.

When she and her mother moved to Malibu to move in with her new step-father, Marcus Kane, Clarke found herself choosing what was easy. Suddenly, looks were everything and pampering herself was more important than trying hard. Because what was the point of trying when there were other ways to be happy?

She embraced the stereotype of a blonde Valley Girl. She coasted through school, living off her parents’ money. She went to UCLA and joined a sorority. Everything was perfect in Clarke Griffin’s life.

When she was twelve, there was nothing Clarke Griffin couldn’t do. Her aspirations changed daily.

Then one day, a decade later, she became…

Legally Blonde.

 

* * *

 

> _10 Years Later_

It was the day that would change her life forever and Clarke Griffin had nothing to wear. Instead of freaking out, however, she headed to the Old Valley Mall with her truest, most trusted sidekick - her chihuahua Bruiser.

It wasn’t until she was ten dresses deep that Clarke called her sorority sisters for help. Harper and Zoe Monroe arrived shockingly fast considering the traffic.

“But it’s blue,” Harper remarked, taking in the sparkly blue dress that Clarke was modeling for them. “I know it matches your eyes, but shouldn’t you go with your signature color?”

“I know what you’re thinking,” Clarke responded, “But this isn’t just any date. This is the night Finn Collins proposes, why else would his grandmother have flown here from Connecticut? You can’t exactly FedEx a six-carat diamond. It’s special.”

“What about a white dress?” Zoe suggested.

Clarke vehemently shook her head. “I can’t come right out and say _bride_.”

Clarke was just about to try on her last option when a sales associate approached her. “Excuse me,” the woman interrupted, bearing a a rather limp looking tan dress. “We just got this in yesterday, straight from Milan. It’s one of a kind. Even on sale.”

Always skeptical of people trying to sell her anything, Clarke ran a hand along the fabric before quizzing the sales associate. “Is this low-viscosity rayon? With a half-loop top stitching on the hem?”

The sales associate was clearly caught a bit off-guard by the detailed questioning, but composed herself quickly. “Of course,” she nodded, “Like I said, it’s one of a kind.” She offered Clarke an almost lecherous smile.

“Well the thing is,” Clarke quickly tore her hand away from the fabric, “It's impossible to use a half-loop stitching on low-viscosity rayon. It would snag the fabric. And you didn't just get it in - I saw it in the June Vogue a year ago. So if you're trying to sell it to me for full price, you've picked the wrong girl.”

Off to the side, Harper and Monroe high-fived one another while the sales associate sulked away and the manager approached.

“Sorry about her,” she apologized. “She’s new. Now Miss Griffin, what can I help you with?”

An hour later she had a dress. She had _the_ dress.

 

* * *

 

That night at the Delta Nu sorority house, all the sisters aided in helping their chapter president, Clarke Griffin, get ready for the date of the year. Her engagement date. And when her date finally arrived - right on time - half the freshman swooned at the sight of him.

Finn Huntington Collins III was everything a girl could want in a man. He had swoon-worthy hair, a sweet smile, a chivalrous nature and was an heir to a family of senators that could only be considered American royalty. And he was Clarke’s.

Clarke greeted Finn with an air kiss to both cheeks. She wasn’t willing to mess up her make up yet, not when there was likely to be a secret photographer there paid to catch the faux-surprise on her face when Finn dropped to one knee.

The restaurant Finn took her to was one of the finest in Los Angeles, one that had a year long waiting list. Clarke knew she deserved the best though.

After Clarke finished her salad, careful to make sure she had no stray greens in her teeth, and Finn finished his steak, they sat together in a comfortable silence for a moment. The waitress cleared their plates and Finn cleared his throat. Clarke straightened in her seat. This was it.

“Princess…” Finn began. It was a nickname he’d given Clarke when they’d first started dating. Sometimes it rubbed Clarke the wrong way, like an itch she only sometimes remembered bothered her. Most of the time, however, she found it sweet. He thought she was his princess. He was her knight in shining armor.

“Yes?” Clarke smiled, feigning ignorance.

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” Finn continued as he reached across the table and took Clarke’s hands in his. She would have preferred him down on one knee, she was traditional like that, but she was okay with the current situation. “As you know, I’m going to be at Harvard Law next year and it’s time for me to start thinking long term about my future. My family expects a lot from me. We’ve been having fun here at UCLA, but Harvard will be different.”

Clarke nodded enthusiastically.

“I’ve been doing some thinking and if I’m going to become a senator by the time I’m thirty, I need to get serious.”

“I completely understand.”

“I new you would, Princess,” Finn grinned. “That makes this so much easier, knowing that we’re on the same page. So I’ll just come out and say it.”

Clarke felt butterflies in her stomach.

“I think we should break up.”

“Yes I will!” Clarke responded immediately. She then paused and frowned. “What did you say?” She asked, suddenly confused.

“I thought we were on the same page…about breaking up?”

“Breaking up?” Clarke’s voice cracked as her eyes prickled with soon-to-be-shed tears. “I thought you were _proposing_!”

“Proposing?” Finn asked in shock. “Clarke be serious. I’m a Collins. I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Clarke pleaded. The tears started to fall and around them, people started to stare. “That I’m too _blonde_?!”

“Bad salad,” Finn offered as an excuse to their fellow patrons before turning back to his now ex-girlfriend. “Come on Princess, be serious for a minute.”

The nickname snapped something inside of Clarke, and for a moment she stopped crying. She stood up and stomped off.

Not knowing any other way to get home, since public transportation in Los Angeles was simply not an option, Clarke began to walk home. She made it barely a quarter miles before Finn’s Tesla pulled up alongside her.

“Get in the car Clarke,” he sighed. “You can’t walk all the way back to campus.”

“Watch me.”

Growing frustrated, Finn sighed again. He knew exactly how to get Clarke in the car though. “Please Princess?” he pleaded. “You’re going to ruin your shoes.”

Clarke paused and looked down at her Louboutins. “Fine,” she conceded before reluctantly getting into the car.

 

* * *

 

What followed the great break-up of senior fall was a mess of chocolate, trashy magazines and greasy hair. Clarke Griffin left her room only when absolutely necessary.

Two weeks post-break up, however, Harper and Monroe had had enough. They had walked in on Clarke crying over sappy rom-coms way too many times and were over it. So they did the one thing they knew would undoubtably work. Take her to a salon.

It was a day of pampering between massages, manicures and pedicures, but Clarke’s sour mood had only lessened slightly.

Clarke was sitting, waiting for her pedicure to dry when she picked up the newly delivered People magazine. She flipped through almost absentmindedly until she came across a photo of a well manicured man and a woman with a face that made Sarah Jessica Parker’s look almost chubby.

It was upon reading the caption below the photo that Clarke gasped.

“What is it?” Harper asked, leaning over to look.

Clarke quickly showed off the photo, then read out loud the caption, “Warner Huntington the third, graduate of Harvard Law to marry Columbia Law graduate Bethany Vanderbilt.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Warner is Finn’s cousin!” Clarke exclaimed. She pointed to the woman, Bethany. “This is who he wants to marry!”

“What? Someone who’s half horse?”

“No,” Clarke rolled her eyes. “A lawyer.”

It started with a meeting with her faculty advisor who doubted her immediately. Surely she’d never get into Harvard Law School.

“What are your back up options?” her advisor asked.

“None,” Clarke responded simply. “I’m going to Harvard.”

With a sigh her advisor informed her, “A 4.0 in fashion merchandising isn’t going to get you far. You’ll need great recommendations from professors, a killer essay and an LSAT score of more than 173.”

Determined, Clarke set to work. She missed all of Greek week studying with the house genius, Maya, hoping to improve her LSAT score with each practice test. She studied for weeks but she never could get it high enough.

On the day of the exam, however, Clarke was wished luck by all her Delta Nu sisters as she set off for the testing center in a perfectly comfortable, yet chic, pink outfit.

“Wait!” Harper exclaimed, running to Clarke before she could get in her car. She took her scrunchie off her wrist and handed it to the blonde.

“Your lucky scrunchie!”

“It helped me pass Spanish,” Harper explained.

“You passed Spanish because you gave your professor a lap dance,” Clarke laughed, grateful anyway for her friend.

“Yeah,” Harper rolled her eyes. “Luckily.”

Then she was off to the exam. And believe it or not, she did feel lucky. And that luck paid off when her score came.

175.

It was almost unbelievable. Even Maya was astonished.

That night, Clarke went out to dinner with her parents and explained that she’d applied to Harvard Law.

“Now why on earth would you do that?” Abby asked.

“For love,” Clarke insisted.

“Harvard though?” Clarke’s step-father, Marcus asked. “Boston is cold and boring. It’s winter for eight months out of the year. Besides, you don’t need to work. We’ll give you everything you need.”

“And if you really wanted to work, Marcus could get you a role on whatever TV show you fancy,” Abby added, speaking of her husband’s position at the studio.

“No,” Clarke insisted. “I want this. I know I can do this. I want it and I want Finn back.”

“Okay,” Marcus conceded. “We’ll pay your way if you get it.”

Clarke grinned.

A week later she got the letter. She was in.

 

* * *

 

She did it. She actually did it. Clarke Griffin was finally at Harvard Law School. And she was going to get the love of her life back.

After moving into a swanky new apartment, paid for by Abby and Marcus of course, she made her way campus. It was the first day of classes and Clarke was looking her best in a new, hot pink power suit that would make Hillary jealous.

Clarke arrived to campus early. She wanted to scope out the buildings, but more importantly she wanted to find Finn and “accidentally” run into him.

And she got what she wished for.

Clarke was busy ignoring all the stares from people with boring faces, wearing boring outfits, when she spotted his unmistakable flop or gorgeously conditioned brunette hair. He was standing by a wall, checking his phone when Clarke saw her opportunity. She straightened her blazer and walked towards him.

As she approached him, Clarke kept her eyes trained forward, only barely brushing against him. “Oh sorry,” she apologized. She started to walk forward again, still not looking at Finn, when she felt him grab her arm.

“Clarke?” he asked in astonishment.

After quickly hiding a grin, Clarke turned and feigned surprise. “Finn! I _totally_ forgot you went here.”

“Uh, yeah,” Finn responded, his confusion evident by the dumb look on his face. “Are you here to see me?”

“No silly,” Clarke laughed. “I go here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I go to school here,” Clarke grinned. She then took a look at her Cartier watch and gasped. “And it’s time for class. Meet afterwards in the courtyard?”

“Oh, yeah. Okay.” Clarke pressed a kiss to Finn’s cheek and hurried off to class.

Upon arrival to her first class, Clarke took a seat in the front row. She always sat in the front row. It helped her stay awake and pay attention in every class. It was a strategy she learned from her father.

The rest of the class filed in not long after Clarke, and after the professor arrived, a woman who introduced herself as Professor Indra, a sign in sheet was passed around.

After several minutes of the class getting settled, Indra took up the sing in sheet and looked at it. She then appraised the front row. “The seats you sit in now, will be yours all semester. And to those of you in the front row, you are in what I refer to as the hot seats.”

A general grumbling erupted around Clarke.

“You should have received the syllabus by now, so let’s just get started with the assigned reading.”

Around her, everyone brought out textbooks, but Clarke simply sat with her notebook, pink pen in hand.

“Now who can explain to me the reasoning behind the defense attorney’s strategy in my case at hand?” Indra asked. “Let’s start with someone from the hot seats.” She scanned the sign-in sheet. “Miss Clarke Griffin?”

Clarke immediately straightened at the sound of her name.

“I, umm, wasn’t aware that we had an assignment,” Clarke spoke.

“This is Harvard Law, what were you expecting?” Professor Indra scoffed before turning to the class. “Class, do you think that it’s appropriate that Miss. Griffin here is unprepared for class?”

Most of the class was silent, only a few grumbles of agreement.

“Does anyone else know the answer?”

A few hands shot up and Indra picked on a Latina women sitting halfway back the lecture hall. The woman responded immediately with a well poised answer.

“Thank you. Now, Miss…” Professor Indra trailed off.

“Reyes. Raven Reyes,” the woman responded.

“Miss. Reyes, you’ve clearly done your homework. What do you think of your classmate that hasn’t taken the time to do the same?

“I think it’s inexcusable.”

Clarke gasped. She couldn’t imagine a fellow student to speak out against her, not so brashly anyway.

“And would you respect my decision to ask Miss. Griffin to leave the class until she’s done her work?” Professor Indra asked.

“Wholeheartedly,” Raven grinned.

Indra gave Clarke a look that she knew to mean “leave”. Not wanting anyone to see her upset, Clarke grabbed her belongings and ran out of the room. She couldn’t help but hear the laughter behind her. She was already the laughing stock of Harvard.

 

* * *

 

Lexa Woods was sitting outside on the Cambridge campus, enjoying the late summer sun as she was preparing for the class she would be assisting with the year, when her peace was disrupted by something the could be described with only two words; blonde and pink.

The mysterious woman sat down with a huff on the bench Lexa already sat upon. It was a bench that looped around a tree and Lexa was sure the woman hadn’t noticed her. She could easily get up and ignore the Barbie doll, but curiosity got the better of her when the woman huffed loudly again.

“Something the matter?” Lexa asked.

The blonde turned around, clearly surprised to find she was not alone. Lexa waited for the woman’s response. There was a moment of silence, but Lexa wasn’t one to fill space with needless words.

“Do they always put you on the spot like that?” the blonde asked, exasperated.

“Professor Indra’s class I’m guessing?” Lexa chuckled. From her own time at Harvard Law she had been at the receiving end of Indra’s pointed questions on multiple occasions. She’d always had the correct answer though.

“AND she kicked me out of class,” the woman in pink continued. “All thanks to that stupid stuck-up New England prep school bitch.”

Lexa couldn’t help but chuckle. She most certainly knew the type. The type she didn’t know, however, was the woman talking to her. She didn’t exactly come off as the typical Harvard Law student. Again, curiosity got the best of her. “What other classes do you have?” she asked.

The blonde fumbled around for her phone and handed it to Lexa, showing her schedule.

“None of these should give you the same trouble,” Lexa offered. “Professor Titus spits a bit, so don’t sit in the front row. And with Professor Pike, he likes when people speak up in class, even if they don’t get an answer right at first. Don’t be afraid to stick to your convictions with him, even if he disagrees.”

Lexa looked into the blonde’s blue eyes after she handed the phone back to her. And then she smiled. Lexa smiled back, because how could she not? It wasn’t too often that people smiled around her.

“You’re the first nice person I’ve met since coming here,” the woman then extended her perfectly manicured hand towards Lexa. “I’m Clarke Griffin.”

Lexa shook her hand, but as soon as she started to say, “I’m…” she was interrupted by a man with annoying floppy brown hair creating a shadow over her.

“Clarke?”

Clarke immediately stood up and enveloped the man in a hug. “Oh Finn, you won’t believe the most horrible thing that happened in class today!”

Lexa took that as her cue to leave. She gathered her belongings and looked back just in time to see Clarke’s world shatter.

“This stupid, awful, ugly bitch laughed at me in front of the professor and…” Clarke paused as a tan hand fell over Finn’s shoulder. Even from twenty feet away, Lexa could see the ornate engagement ring on the finger.

“There you are,” the new woman spoke as Clarke stepped back. The woman placed a long kiss on Finn’s lips. Lexa watched as Clarke’s shoulders sagged.

“Clarke, this is my fiancee,” Finn introduced the woman. “Raven Reyes.”

Lexa watched, rooted to the ground, as Clarke Griffin turned and ran.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going away on vacation for the next 2 weeks, but hopefully that should give me a good amount of time to work on the next chapter while I'm there :)
> 
> all comments are appreciated and i'd love to hear who you think some of the yet unmentioned characters are for their movie counterparts!
> 
> xo, kris  
> (commanderlexark.tumblr.com)


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